Amusement apparatus



March 5, 1940.

B. RADTKE AMUSEMENT APPARATUS Filed April 9, 1938 Patented Mar. 5, 1940 PATENT OFFICE AMUSEMENT APPARATUS Bruno nature, Libertyville, mfa'ssig r to The Exhibit Supply Company, Chicago, 111., a cor poration of Illinois Application April 9, 1938,. Serial No. 201,074

1 Claim.

This invention pertains to amusement apparatus, and has as its principal object the provision of improved game means of the projected ball type wherein a ball or like projectile is projected by a hand-operated strike in a substantially vertical field for gravitating movement; past or into ball receptacles projecting from a substantially vertical panel. v r

A more particular object is the provision of amusement apparatus including a cabinet with a substantially vertical playing panel and-a manually operated strike upon which a. ball rests. and which is adapted to be struck sharply with the hand to project the ball upwardly toward the top of the panel so that the ball may gravitate downwardly in a substantially vertical field past or into ball receiving means projecting from. the panel in a substantially horizontal. plane.

A further object is the provision of improved ball or article receiving means in the form of members pivotally mounted on. a substantially vertical panel so as to lie normally in a horizon.-

tal plane in position to receive and retain a ball or like article, together with mechanism for pivoting all of the receptacles so that each of the same lies in a substantially vertical plane to dislodge any articles resting therein.

.Another object is the provision of manually operable control means arranged, to release a predetermined number of balls or projectiles for play and simultaneously move the several ball or projectile receptacles into dislodging position. A further object is the provision of a game apparatus with a vertically disposed panel, and means for projecting balls toward the top of the panel for gravitating movement before the latter, and a plurality of ball receptaclesv in the form of ring members each having a. radially extended pivot arm seated for pivotal movement in the panel such that the ring members maybe turned from a normal horizontal position into a substantially vertical position to spill or eject ball members severally lodged therein.

Yet another object is the provision of lever mechanism connecting the several pivot arms .of.

the receptacles with a common actuating or pivoting means arranged to be operated by a manual control. 1

Still another object is an arrangement, in a game apparatus of the type characterized, ofball return runways and a cut-off device normally blocking movement of balls in said runwaysand operably connected with the common actuating member. s

A still further object is the provision of. anovel embodiment of the game apparatus;

ball elevating or feeding mechanism in the form of a manually operablemember movable to raise ballsone at a time for gravitating movement over a. barrier, into projecting position. v

Otherobjectsand novel aspects of the invention reside in particular-details of construction and operation, for example in the arrangement of the vertical panel, the rebound, and the baflle means thereon, and. in the construction and op.- eration of the hall projecting strike, all of which will. appear hereinafter as the" following specifica' tion develops in view of the drawing, in which Fig. l is a perspective view of the preferred Fig. 2v is a horizontalsection looking along line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

- Fig. 3 isa rear perspective of the ball panel showing the receptacle-clearing or tilting mechanism;

Fig. l-is an enlarged perspective detail of one of the tiltable ball receptacles; while Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective of the ball returning, feeding and projecting mechanism.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in;

1, there is provided a cabinet member ID havinga substantially vertical section II with a transparent or glass front wall l2 and a vertically disposed ball or playing panel 13 arranged behind the transparent panel. i

' At one side of the ball panel I3 is a vertically extending ball shaft or guideway M which is open at its upper end just below one extremity 45 of an arcuate upper end wall blockv l6 arranged: at the top of the panel. At the opposite extremity of the arcuate end. wall is an ofiset rebound projector H, the purpose of which. will appear hereinafter.

Disposed in. accordance with a predetermined pattern on the front of the panel 13, are a plurality of. ball receptacles. 2.0 of a particular structure to be described in conjunction with the embodiment thereof shown in Fig. 4. Arranged, in variously spaced relations on the panet'are a plurality of horizontally projecting baiile members or pins l9 adapted to be engaged by albeit or like object gravitating down before thefpanel to alter the course oi'such ball or object.

At the lower end of the ball panel is an in clined ball return runway or ramp Zl upon which balls gravitating-down the panel are received in alignment for gravitating movement into pro jecting position. At the lower end of the runway or ramp 21 is a cut-offmember or arm22' pro Below the ball storing runway 2| is an oppositely inclined ramp or runway member 26 having its upper end immediately below the ter minal of the storing runway 2i and terminating at its lower end 2'! opposite an inclined ball seat 28 disposed at the end of the horizontally extended arm 29 of a dog leg or bell crank lever pivotally mounted as at 38 on a portion 3| of the cabinet structure.

The upright ball shaft or guideway I4 is formed by a small upright panel 36 (Figs. 1 and 5 particularly) projected laterally from the panel I3 in spaced relation to the inner vertical surface portion on the right-hand side of the upright cabinet portion I I. At its lowermost extremity, the guideway panel 36 blocks gravitating movement of balls down the lower runway 26 and over the inclined ball seat 28. However, there is provided a ball opening or passage 3'! leading into the lower portion of the shaft or guideway 14 at a point above the rolling level of the balls sufficient to leave a small barrier portion 38 which stops the balls so that they rest on the seat 28 v and cannot enter the guideway [4.

Means for projecting the balls includes a strike in the form of a paddle 40 pivotally mounted between its ends by means 41 disposed at one side of its mid-point so that the inner end portion 42 will normally gravitate into a lowered position against the top of a table or anvil block 43 in such manner that a ball passing through the opening 3'." will be lodged on the lowered end portion, such lodgement being facilitated by the provision of a ball seat or recess 44.

As viewed in Figs. 1 and 5, the striking anvil or table 43 constitutes the top surface of a block 45 projecting from the front of a cabinet section ill to underlie a similarly projected end portion of the strike 49 so that the latter is accessible to the player to be struck sharply with the hand for the purpose of projecting a ball in theseat 44 thereof up the guideway 14 toward the top of the panel, the ball thereafter gravitating down the vertically extensive chamber formed between the transparent panel I2 and the play panel l3. The ball projected as aforesaid will variously engage the receptacles 20 and bafiles l9 projecting out from the face of the panel [3, possibly to become lodged in one of the receptacles 20, there to remain until the receptacle is tilted or moved to dislodge the ball by means hereinafter to be described.

As seen in Fig. 4, a preferred form of ball receptacle comprises an annulus or ring-like member 25 having a radially extending pivot arm 50 projecting through the panel [3 for pivotal mounting in a U-shaped bracket 5! (Figs. 2 and 3 also) secured to the back side of the play panel. These receptacles may readily be formed from a heavy gauge wire or red having an end portion formed back upon itself to form the ball seat or ring part 20, the diameter of the latter, of course, being slightly less than that of the ball or projectiles usedwith theapparatus, so that the balls or projectiles will be prevented from passing through the ring portion.

Means for pivoting the several ball receptacles includes a lever or bell crank 52 for each of the receptacles, each bell crank being mounted by means of a hub portion 53 forced or shrunk onto the shaft portion 50 between the sides of the U- shaped. brackets 5|.

.Ihe tiltable ball receptacles are preferably arranged in horizontal rows across the panel l3, .there being no limit to the number of receptacles in a given row; however, only the first receptacle in each row is provided with a bell crank lever means 52,v all other receptacles after the first having a single lever 52" (Fig. 3).

The bell crank arms 54 opposite the arms 52 on the first receptacle unit in each row are pivotally attached as at 55 (Figs. 3 and 4) to the vertically extending shift rod 24 heretofore mentioned.

Inorder to vary the placement pattern of the several receptacles so as to make the game interesting, the number of receptacles in the several rows or groups may be varied, as illustrated for example by the topmost receptacle 2!) (Fig. 1) or the two receptacles 20" in the row immediately therebelow.

The tilting means for the several receptacles is, therefore, preferably arranged so that the pivoting mechanism for one receptacle in each group is linked with the actuating or shift rod 24, the tilting mechanisms for the remaining receptacles in each group being linked with the tilting means for the first receptacle of the group for simultaneous tilting operation with the latter.

Beginning with the bottommost row of receptacle-tilting means, as viewed in Fig. 3, this arrangement is illustrated by the connections 55 of the bell crank arms 54 with the shift rod 24. However, in .the third higher group, the operating lever means for the first receptacle of that group is in the form of a compound or offset lever 56 pivotally connected at the juncture 57 of one of its pairs of offset arms with the upper end portion of theshift rod 24, the free end portion of one of the arms of the last-mentioned offset pair having pivotal connection as at 58 with the lower end of an operating rod 59 pivotally connected at its upper end 60 with the single lever arm 52 of the solitary topmost receptacle 20'.

The remaining receptacle-tilting mechanisms of each group have their respective single operating'levers 52' pivotally attached as at iii to common operating rods 62 which are in turn pivotally at tached as at 63 to hell crank arms 52 of the first receptacle-tilting means in their corresponding rows or groups.

By this arrangement the shift rod 24 is operable to tilt certain receptacles in each group, all of the receptacles in each group being interconnected so as to be actuated together. Thus,- the tilting lever mechanism here described makes possible a varied arrangement of the receptacles, the several tilting mechanisms of which are, however, operated by a common actuating member.

A coin control mechanism 65 including a re-' ciprocable slide 66, is mounted in the front of the cabinet section ill, so that the inner end portion 61 (Fig. 3) of the slide control will bear against one arm 68 of a bell crank pivoted in a bracket 69 mounted beneath the lower runway section 26 and pivotally connected as at 70 to the lower end of the shift rod 24 whereby to raise the latter and hence eifect, through the aforesaid lever system, a simultaneous tilting or pivoting of all of the receptacles. A spring 1| (Fig. 5) is provided to restore the shift rod 24 to lowered position and hence to project the bell crank arm 68 into position for engagement by the end of the slide or other control 66.

In operating the improved game apparatus,'the player will manipulate the control 66, inserting a coin in the same where the control unit is of the coin-freed variety, and push the control inwardly to efiect raising movement of the common shift rod 24 to tilt the several ball receptacles or rings and spill or dislodge any balls or projectiles held therein, such balls or projectilesgravitating to the lower region of the playing chamber for alignment on the storing ramp 2! behind the cut-ofi 22. At the same time, the upward movement of the shift rod 24 raises the cut-off 22 and permits the balls on the ramp 2| to descend onto the lower, oppositely inclined runway 2'6, the operator holding the control 66 in long enough to permit such action. When the control 66 is released, the spring H will restore the shift rod to its lowered position and hence restore the several receptacles or rings to their normal horizontal ball-receiving position. The cut-off 22 is useful particularly when the control 66 is freed by deposit of a coin therein, thus regulating the number of balls one may play on deposit of a single coin.

The balls having thus been freed for alignment on the lower runway 26, the leading or lowermost ball will rest upon the elevating platform 28, bearing against the barrier portion 38 below the opening 31 in the runway wall panel 36. The operator will then depress the handle 32 (Figs. 1 and 5) to pivot the dog leg or bell crank mem ber 26 upwardly and raise the ball on the seat or platform 28 thereof for gravitating movement through the opening 31 and over the barrier 38 onto the ball seat M in the normally lowered end of the strike paddle 40. Thereupon the operator, preferably clenching his fist for the purpose, will strike the exposed portion 40 of the paddle vigorously to throw the outer or raised end thereof against the anvil or striking table 43 of the block 65, thus hurtling the ball in the seat 44 upwardly in the guideway N. If the ball is given adequate momentum it will hug the arcuate upper wall portion H5 at the top of the chamber and strike the rebound block l1, and it will be observed in discharge end of the runway, but in either case the ball ultimately will gravitate down past the several bafile members l9 and the receptacle rings 20, possibly to become lodged in one of the latter.

The ball receptacles maybe given scoring" values so that after apredetermined number of balls have been played, an objective. score may or may not be achieved by the player dependent upon his skill in projecting the ball for downward movement over various sections of the playfield.

Attention is called to the fact also that the pivotable ball receptacles may be variously arranged in the chamber or playfleld to vary the degree of skill required to achieve high scoring values in one or another model of the game, and

such an arrangement is made possible by the receptacle-clearing or tilting leverage system heretofore described in vievr of Fig. 3.

The objects of the invention may be accomplished by other forms of construction than that specifically described for purposes of illustra tion herein, and it is therefore a condition of the present disclosure that the invention not to be limited to any such details of form, location, or operation, except as may be expressuy provided in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention; what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

Amusement apparatus including mean providing a substantially upright ball chamber, means for projecting balls towardthe upper region of said chamber for gravitating descent therein,and a ball receptacle in the form of a ring arranged in said chamber for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis radial thereto into an out of horizonal ball receiving position, said receiving ring being normally disposed in horizontal ball receiving position, together with mechanism for pivot-I ing said ring into a position to discharge a'ball lodged therein.

BRUNO RADTKE. 

